Brad Pitt and George Clooney’s film Wolfs is reportedly no longer getting a sequel.
Three months ago, before the crime movie premiered at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, Apple TV Plus are said to have made a deal with director Jon Watts for a followup.
However, Jon has now said that it is no longer happening.
‘I don’t know what I’m directing next and I don’t think there’s going to be a Wolfs sequel,’ he shared in an interview with Collider.
The original comedy/thriller was a huge investment with the production allegedly costing a whopping $200million (£158million), which would have made it one of the most expensive TV movies of all time.
It was first reported in August by The Hollywood Reporter that a sequel would be coming, with Deadline saying that Brad, 60, and George, 63, would be reprising their roles.
Viewers were able to watch Wolfs at the end of September, and the movie got mixed reviews.
The plot saw Brad and George as two professional fixers that are begrudgingly made to form a team after being hired for the same cover-up job. They were joined in the cast by Amy Ryan, Austin Abrams and Poorna Jagannathan.
Wolfs currently boasts a critics score of 69% on Rotten Tomatoes but many slated it as ‘staggeringly banal’ and ‘a little better than mediocre’ on the platform. Viewer Courtney Howard brutally called it ‘meh’ on X. However, others had a different experience and called it a ‘genuine delight’ and ‘beautiful’.
The recent news of its apparent cancellation have once again highlighted the divide by people who loved it and those who wouldn’t recommend.
‘Well that’s disappointing! I enjoyed the first movie, and was looking forward to seeing where Watts and co. would take those two lone wolfs,’ wrote Movie Moustache on X.
Meanwhile account CantUnseeMovie claimed ‘absolutely no one is surprised by this’.
Despite the sometimes savage reviews, Apple TV Plus said the film was the most viewed feature in the platform’s history.
Apple Original Films’ head of features Matt Dentler said: ‘Audiences have chosen in droves to make Wolfs part of their weekend, making the movie a global blockbuster.
‘We always consider Apple TV Plus to be the home for the world’s most talented artists to create and deliver their best work, and it’s exciting to see audiences embrace that so overwhelmingly.’
It was initially going to have a wide theatrical release before debuting on Apple TV Plus. George honestly admitted it was a disappointment it only given a limited one-week theatrical release.
‘Yeah, we would have liked that. We wanted it. That’s why Brad and I gave some of our salary back to do that,’ he told reporters at the Wolfs press conference in Venice, including Metro.
It was reported that the pair were paid ‘more than $35million’ (£26million) each to act in and co-produce Wolfs, but he poured cold water on the figures.
‘It’s millions and millions and millions of dollars less than what was reported,’ he said.
‘I am only saying that because I think it’s bad for our industry if that’s what people think is the standard bearer for salaries,’ he added, noting that it ‘will make it impossible to win’.
Brad, who starred alongside George in Ocean’s Eleven and Ocean’s Twelve over 20 years ago, added: ‘I think we’ll always be romantic about the theatrical experience. At the same time, I love the existence of the streamers because we get to see more story, we get to see more talent. It gets more eyes.’
Metro contacted Apple TV Plus for comment.
Wolfs is available to watch on Apple TV Plus
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